Feeding device for box-part assembling machines



March 18, 1952 c. A. BURKHOLDER FEEDING DEVICE FOR BOX-PART ASSEMBLING MACHINES Filed April 1, 1947 INVENTOR C1 fl.5urkl2older ATTORNEYS C- A. BURKHOLDER March 18, 1952 FEEDING DEVICE FOR BOX-PART ASSEMBLING MACHINES 5 Shee ts-Sheet 2 Filed April 1', 1947 INVENTOR C. H. .B ark]: older a M rash/b FEEDING DEVICE FOR BOX-PART ASSEMBLING MACHINES Filed April 1, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig.3

JNVENTOR C H. B grkbolaez" ATTORNEYS March 1952v c. A. BURKHOLDER 2,539,600

FEEDING DEVICE FOR BOX-PART ASSEMBLING MACHINES Filed April 1, 1947 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR BY Mimi,

ATTORNEYS March 18, 1952 c. A. BURKHOLDER 2,589,600

FEEDING DEVICE FOR BOX-PART ASSEMBLING MACHINES 5 Sheet eet 5 Filed Apr 1947 JNVENTOR khoZdez- TT ,EYs

Patented Mar. 18, 1952 STATES PATENT Felt tom-nee Ass'EMBLING MACHINES" Claude A. Burkliolder;

Fresno; Califl, :as'sig norto General BoxDlstributors,Fresno, Calif; a cor-' p'oration of California mutt-tits niliii'i; 1947; siii-i limits "4' Claims: (01. 271 14)" v e y pr61 'er' position-- relative td other box parts ling therewith aridthe assembled parts then'iriov'ing" to a nailingo'r stitching machine, The nailing or stitching machine forms no part or the presentinvention and-- is nothere shown. I

Another object'- of the inventionis to provide areeaifig dvieerr us with flat, very thin box parts wmenarotnsrwis quite difficult to mecli-a ally'an'd automatically feed'one at a time and aeeessiviy from the" bottom of-a stack.

A runner-o ject of'the invention is to provide a; box-part feeding'di'ice; as above; which com:

prises" a; franie supported hopper for l a stack of the flatbox parts, and stack supporting and box p'art feeding units at opposite ends 'of the hopper adjacent the' bottom thereof; said units being actuated in unison. Each such unit includes a stack; supporting footland a box-part separating-wedge thereab'ove a" distance substantially' equal to the th-ickness of the individual box parts; the foot and wedge being mounted for simultaneous opposite reciprocation in a hori-' zontal plane w'hereb'y when so actuated the foot first-supports the stack from below the lower mostb'oxpart and the Wedge is retracted, and thenthe wedge" adva'nce's' and engages between said lowermost box part and the next one above iii-supporting relation to the stack as the foot retractsan'd-said lowermost box part is fedor dropped-downwardly onto the'conveyor there: below.

Anadditional object ofthis'invention is to arrange the stack supporting and box-part feedingm'nits so that the same'may be easily and initially adjusted to effectively feed different sized fiat'box parts of predetermined like thickness and rectangular size in plan;

Afm'ther object'of the invention is to provide air/practical feeding- .device forbox-part assembling xmachines and. one which will be exceedingly effective for the-purpose for which it is designed; p These objects are accomplished by means-of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by'a' perusal of the following specification and claims;

ln-the'drawingsz, r Fig; 11 is a'top'plan viewgofthe box-part feed-- ingdeviee; there being a stack of box parts ;sup-' p rt dthereim v H lilig. 2;js;a-side elevationof th ej-device.-- L Fig. 3 is an opposite gsiderelevation or t-hedevice.

g t' t spp i;1, a v Fig. 5' is a'snnilarviembut shows the positions of the'parts of'saidunlt1ufi0nj.lelease of the lowermost box- -part for feeding' and engage ment of the remainder o'f the stack to support ita gainst downward movement; V

Referring now more particularly to the on acters ofjreference on the drawingsythe deviee comprises an; open, upstanding main iramef l' provided with a rectangular, horizontal top" frame 2, which top'gframe is adjustable" as to size.

I The top frame 2' is open andfsupportsaboxpart stack hopper, indicated gnerally at 3 which hopper comprises aplurality'of spaced upstand' ing hopper-forming rods 4 carried on the inner ends of laterally outwardly projecting brackets 5 secured to said'fra ne 2 whereby the size of thehopper canbe varied I I The numeral 6 indicates generally a stack of box parts, indicated ,specifically at l. The box parts 1 are fiat and rectangular, such as box covers or side panels. These box parts are relatively thin, and the present device is especially adapted for feeding such thin box parts, one at a time and .suecessively, from the bottom of the stack 6. This is accomplish ed by'means of the following structure; v I, H 7 I v A pair of stack supporting endbox-part feed: ing unit's indieated generally at 8, are mounted t opposite en s o thatch ra i. 2, b n s e-J pended centrally from the end bars 9 of said topv frame. I H v Each of the stack supportingand box part feeding units comprises a guide, housing ll) through whim an upper slide block I and a lowe slideblock I 2 are Slidable in guided relation h Ori-I zion'tally in a direction toward away from the adjacent end of the stack 6: 'Ifhe housing" H} in-' cludes sideplates' l3fsp'aced by an upper guide a 15; and awverti'cally adjustable lower guide ar t, a he upper slide block, ii is; ifiiti aiiy reamed relative to the stack 6,;wl'ii'lethe1lo'wer slide block [2 'i'sinitially advanced" relative to said stack the lower sibl g i nli din j wa' fii iii jecting stack supporting fo'ot l3' which then engages beneath-the adjacent end of thestack '6 in supportingrelationto the same.

the endiadja'cent the foot-I6 the upper slide block I I is formed with an outwardly projecting panel separating wedge I'h'the distance between the top working face of'the' foot 1? at its-outer end, and the point of the: Wedge I],- beingysl'lbstantially equal; to, the thickness of each-10f the flat box part Ihiss aci a leiwf ll the 991? 15 enl medss israri. he so maith nevisemer; be adjusted for use with box parts of diflerent downward movement.

thicknesses. Such adjustment is accomplished by an adjustment screw l8 bearing against the foot I I6 froml-below; the latter being pivoted, as at 19, l for vertical adjustment.

, 23 fixed in connection with an ear 24 which comprises an extension of one of the housing side plates I3.

The stub shaft 22 of one of the above described stack supporting and box-part feeding units 8 is fitted with a radial arm 25 pivotally connected by a clevis link 26 with the upper end of an upstanding connecting rod 21. At its lower end the connecting rod 21 is secured to an eccentric unit 28 mounted on a power-driven shaft 29 suitably journaled in the main frame and driven by power means (not shown). 7 The stack supporting and box-part feeding unit at the opposite end of the stack from the unit which is actuated by the connecting rod 2? is simultaneously actuated with the parts working in the same'directions relative to the stack 6, by means of the following arrangement:

One stub shaft 22 is fitted with a downwardly projecting crank arm as, while the stub shaft 22 of the other unit 8 has an upwardly projecting crank arm 3| thereon; The crank arms 38 and 3| are coupled together by a connecting rod 32 which includes an L-shaped, vertically disposed offsetting member 33 adjustably secured to the remainder of the rod 32. This adjustment is necessary to compensate for adjustment of the top frame 2. The connecting rod 32 is disposed to one side of the hopper 3 so that it is out of the way of feeding of box parts downwardly from the latter.

Upon rotation of the shaft 29 and reciprocation of the connect ng rod 27 the radial arm 25 is' oscillated together with the shafts 22 of both of the units 8, said shafts 22 oscillating in oppo: site directions by reason of the described crank arm and connecting rod arrangement between said units 8. With such oscillation of the shafts 22 the double-ended levers 21 rock back and forth, causing opposite reciprocation of the upper and lower slide blocks H and 12 of each of said units 8. This produces the following result:

At the outset, with both lower slide blocks advanced, the stack 6 is supported against any Thereafter as the lower slide blocks l2 retract and the upper slide blocks ll advance, the wedges I'I engage between the lowermost box part and the next uppermost box part from opposite ends of said stack, and this engagement occurs just before the feet i6 retract clearof said lowermost box part. When the feet It clear the lowermost-box part it falls or feeds downwardly from the hopper 3, the wedges then supporting the remainder of the stack.

With successive reciprocation of the slide blbcks II and [2 of each unit 8, the blocks H are alternately advanced or retracted whereby the box parts I are fed, one at a time, in a downward direction. By reason of the particular assembly of the feet 16 and wedges l1, very thin box parts may be effectively fed downwardly, one at a time, with the present device.

The individual box parts I as fed downwardly from the hopper 3 fall onto other box parts 34, such as end cleats, carried on the upper run of an endless conveyor, indicated generally at 35 which passes directly-below said hopper 3. The conveyor 35 travels in such timed .relation to operation of the units 8 that the box parts 1 are fed onto said conveyor in proper relation to the box parts 34.

a From the described feeding device the conveyor 35 carries the assembly of box parts I and 34 to a nailing or stitching machine (not shown), where said parts are secured together.

The above described feeding device provides a convenient, practical, and wholly automatic apparatus for the downward feeding, one at a time, but in successive order, of fiat box partseven though very thin-from'the bottom of a supporting stack. e

From the foregoing description it will be readily.

seen that there has been produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus describedthe invention, the folsupport the stack; a mounting means for each set of fingers comprising a substantially rectangular frame which includes upper end bars, a guide housing supported from each end bar, a pair of slide blocks slidably mounted in each guide housing in superimposed relation for horizontal movement, adjacent horizontal edges of said blocks being in face to face engagement, one of said fingers projecting from one end of each block, means to reciprocate said blocks alternately in opposite directions relative to each other; means pivoting the lower one of said fingers on the corresponding block, and an adjustment screw mounted in said block below the last named finger and engageable with the under side of such finger intermediate its ends to adjust the latter relative to the other adjacent finger whereby to vary the spacing between the fingers.

. In a feed device for a stack of flat box parts which includes sets of vertically spaced fingers movable in and out and adapted at one end to alternately support the stack at oppositeends thereof, separate mounting means for theJsets of fingers each comprising a substantiallyrec tangular frame which includes an upper end 'bar, a guide housing supported from the end bar,and superimposed slide blocks slidably mounted in each housing for horizontal movement, one of' tain the adjacent horizontal edges thereof in engagement with each other.

3. A device as in claim 2 in which said last' named means comprises a vertically adjustable guide bar disposed in the guide housing,'one guide block being slidably seated on one face of said bar, and set screws mounted in the housing and engaging the face of said ;bar opposite that engaged by said one block. 5 3

4. In a feed device for a stack of flat box parts":

movable in and out and adapted at one end to;v alternately support the stack at opposite ends thereof, separate mounting means for the sets of fingers each comprising a substantially rectangu-- lar frame which includes an upper end bar, a

guide housing sup-ported from the end bar, and

superimposed slide blocks slidably mounted in each housing for horizontal movement, one of the corresponding set of fingers projecting from one end of each block, means to reciprocate the blocks alternately in opposite directions relative to each other, and means to relatively adjust the end bars horizontally toward and from each other.

CLAUDE A. BURKH'OLDER.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 1 file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 920,154 Kent May 4, 1909 972,649 Rose Oct. 11, 1910 1,158,045 Graham Oct. 26, 1915 1,210,520 Oliver Jan. 2, 1917 1,350,393 Tzibides et al. Aug. 24, 1920 1,649,365 Poling Nov. 15, 1927 1,689,756 Swangren Oct. 30, 1928 2,138,662 Neumair Nov. 29, 1938 2,216,276 Mann et al Oct. 1, 1940 2,270,871 Felber Jan. 27, 1942 I 2,378,306 Leonhart June 12, 1945 

